Railway-bed.



E. C. BACHFIELD.

RAILWAY BED. APPLICATION man APR. 16. 1917.

1 256,95 Patented. Feb. 12,1918.

EDWARD C. BACHFIELID, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

RAILWAY-BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, Mild...

Application filed April 16, 1917. Serial No. 162,242.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. BACH- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Beds, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in railway-beds.

The object of the invention is to provide a substantially solid or nonyielding bed upon which the cross ties and superimposed rails shall be laid, with the view of practically eliminating the common present defect in railway-bed of vibration or yieldability under the traveling weight of trains.

In railway construction up to this time the railway-beds, usually constructed of embankments of earth, sometimes intermixed with stone, and overcapped with gravel, cinders or broken rock are so far yieldable under the influence of the weight of trains as to cause an unobserved though potent wave-like action of the rails as the trains proceed over them. That is to say, the bed and the superimposed rail structure settle somewhat from point to point as the train proceeds. Thissettling is irregular, being greater at some places than at others, so that there is an unobserved yet actual wave-like motion of the rails. This results in producing vibrations, principally up and down. As the causes of these vibrations are irregular and as their extent is inconstint, so they l ecome and are unrhythmical. The effect of this is a gradual but continuous depreciation of both rolling stock and road-bed, including in the latter term the rails and'ties and fastening attachments for the rails.

The object-of my invention is to overcome all'this. This objectI carry into effect-by a construction of road-bed upon which the ties and rails are superimposed that will neither itself yield or vibrate nor permitthe ties and rails todoso. 1

In carrying out my inventionI- construct upon the graded road-bed proper abase-of such solidity and'strengthand of such broad contact with the bed proper, as distinguished froma suc ession of crossties resting atintervals on the bed, each tie. afford.- ingbut a small surface, and which is easily depressed, as will not be subject to this yieldability and these wave-like undulations which cause, in the common existing road-beds, the vibrations above alluded to. I eliminate vibration and substitute solidity.

In further carrying out my invention I secure the ties to this base in an immovable manner so that no vibration is permitted as between the ties and the base.

Thus, my invention comprehends a new system of railway-bed in which solidity and non-yieldability are the characteristics which distinguish it in principle from the common road-beds with their universal defeet of yieldability, productive of vibrations in the rollinp; stock.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a cross section of my improved road-bed showing one type of rail tie mounted thereon; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion or section of the base which enters into the road-bed; and Fig. 3 is an inverted perspective view of one end of such a cross tie as may be used with this bed.

At 1 is indicated a railway-bed proper, being the bank of earth usually employed and graded to suit the particular location. This bed proper may be Wholly of earth or a combination of earth and stone or rocks, as may be incident to the locality. The change I make from the old to the new in this respect is in forming the upper surface of this bed 1 of convex contour, as indicated at 2. The object in this is to aid in preventing any side shifting of the base which is to be constructed upon this bed, as the base is concave to fit the convex line of the bed. In this way there is in effect a lateral interlocking of the base to the bed. Of course, this line of contact may be other than convex so long as the. interlocking feature is preserved, but I preferthe convex and con cave -1neeting surfaces.

.,.The base is indicatedat 3 and consists of a'solid body built upon the bed and extend,- ing lengthwise thereon indefinitelyaccording to the extent of the particular road under construction. This base is preferably composed ofa mixture of cement with sand and gravel or broken rock in such proportionsas .willmake a firm and solid body. Usually the proportion of one part of cementto six parts of the remainder of the material combined will be effective. This base...though. in effect continuous is in fact 7 10 of the rail seat.

constructed in sections, say. of thirty or more feet in length, a fine divisional line being formed by any of the usual modes employed in cement work to prevent cracking from the effects of cold.

The upper face of the base is fashioned into a sort of basin, as indicated at 4, so that it will readily hold a super-base of similar material, but of a different consistency. This super-base will preferably be of cream-like consistency so that it may be readily manipulated in a manner to effect a perfect level or to conform to an adopted grade. This super-base will be made of cement and sand, with the addition of gravel or small broken rock.

It is upon the latter that the cross ties with their superimposed rails will be placed;

While I have shown a special type of cross tie, which is being made the subject of a separate patent application filed of even date herewith, Ser. No. 162,243, it is to be understood that any kind of cross tie found suitable for the purpose, even the common wooden tie, may be used. The tie shown comprises a cast metal block 5 formed with a seat 6 for the base of the rail. A clamp 7 having a horn 8 is secured to the block by a bolt 9. The clamp fits against the web of the rail and the horn 8 fits between one side of the rail base and the dovetailed wall The effect is to firmly lock and hold the rail to the tie block against all lateral movement or tipping, yet allowing of the expansion and contraction, particularly longitudinally, of the rail.

Each pair of blocks is connected by a cross tie proper 11, preferably made in tubular form and united with the tie blocks in any convenient manner, as by having the blocks cast over and around the ends of the t e rod The blocks a prefera y m d h pr jectio s or prongs 2 oen er d n int the uperaseivhfle in a P s ic or nse tat a At either side and between the tie blocks gravel, broken stone or other suitable ballast is piled upon the super-base, as'an additional anchoring means for the ties. And so also at either side of the base 3, there will usually be embanked ballast or other material, as indicated at .13, to shed the water from the base and to further insure its interlocking with the bed.

It will be understood that suitable forms will be constructed for laying the material to compose'the base, as is usual in cement- Work. It will further be understood that the upper face of the base will be graded longitudinally and leveled laterally accord.- ing to the prevailing'grade and to the curves in theroad-bed. These levelings are the work of the engineer.

It will further be particularly understood a in the art.

, that there shall be such leveling of the rails,

positionings of the ties and in turn of the rails, when the latter are later. applied are a feature of prime importance. The feasibility of properly positioning the cross ties or tie blocks is a direct result from the use of the plastic super-base, permitting of the nicest application of the engineering art in positioning these supports for the rails. This feasibility is one of the results of my invention, followed by the fact that one set of ties or tie blocks are permanentlyset by reason of the solidifying of the-super-base upon the solid base.

Thus it will be observed that I first build a solid and unyielding base, on this a temporarily yieldahle super-base upon which the ties or tie blocks are leveled, graded or positioned, followed by the setting of the super-base and fixity of the tie or tie block.

From this structure I have eliminated, to all practical purposes, the element of vibration or yieldability and have provided.

instead solidity, 'fiXity and permanence.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that thesame has been chosen for the purposes of illustratiomand that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled 'Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to securerby Letters Patent, is 1. In a railway-bed, the combination, of a bed proper, anon-yielding base on the bed, a super-base locatedon' the base and having the quality of being temporarily plastic and later becoming solid, and rail supports in the nature of ties setto position in the super-base and solidly supported by the solidification thereof. u

2. Ina railway-bed, the combination, of

a bed proper, a non-yielding base on the bed and interlockedtherewith, a super-base located on the base and held by'the latter against lateral displacement, and rail supstructed of plastic material on the base, and rail supports in the nature of ties embedded in said base.

4. In a railway-bed, the combination, of a bed proper, a non-yielding base on the bed, a super-base located on the base and having the quality of being temporarily plastic and later becoming solid.

5. In a railway-bed, a bed proper, a base constructed of a cement composition upon and interlocked with the bed, and having its upper surface elevated at the sides, and a super-base constructed of a cement composition and placed upon the upper surface of the base.

6. In a railway bed, the combinatiomwith a bed proper, and a non-yielding base on the bed forming a solid body to bear over an extensive area of the bed and to support over an extensive area a superposed rail structure, the contour of the bottom of the base and the top of the road bed being such as to assist in preventing side shifting of the base, of a super-base located on the base and constructed of temporarily plastic material, and rail supports set to position in the super-base.

7. In a railway-bed, a base constructed to overlie the bed proper laterally and longitudinally over an extended area, and a super-base constructed of material placed upon the upper surface of the base in a plastic state and adapted to later solidify.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

EDWARD C. BACHFIELD.

Copies oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patente,

Washington, D. C. 

